Obama to meet with Hill leaders

HONOLULU — President-elect Barack Obama will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday to discuss a planned economic stimulus package estimated to cost up to $775 billion, a Democratic source said Thursday.

Obama, Pelosi and Reid will then meet with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House minority leader Republican John Boehner, who have expressed concern about the cost of the economic stimulus package, the source said.

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Obama’s meeting with Pelosi and Reid will take place in Reid’s office. The discussion including House and Senate Republican leaders will be held on the Senate side of the Capitol.

The discussions will cover the scope and timing of the package.

The meetings come the day before the new Congress reconvenes, when lawmakers are expected to move quickly on an economic stimulus package — legislation that Obama has made his incoming administration's top priority.

Obama's meetings with Democrat and Republican Congressional leaders come the day his family's relocation to Washington on Sunday, and they are among his first moves in what is expected to be a strong push to pass the massive economic recovery package.

Democratic leaders have said they hope to have economic recovery legislation on Obama's desk when he takes office on Jan. 20.

But some lawmakers have said the timing feels rushed and the cost of the stimulus package is too large as the budget deficit approaches $1 trillion.

Obama has pledged to craft an economic stimulus package that will create 3 million jobs.

Congressional leaders have yet to receive the stimulus package, but it is expected to contain funding for states, with a focus on infrastructure projects, and tax cuts.

In an e-mail sent to House Democrats this week, Pelosi said lawmakers will move quickly on an economic stimulus package after Congress reconvenes on Jan. 6.

"The opening days of the Congress will be intense," Pelosi wrote.

On Wednesday, five economists, ranging from Martin Feldstein on the right to Robert Reich on the left, will testify at a House Steering & Policy Committee hearing on the economic stimulus package. The other economists scheduled to testify before the committee are Mark Zandi, Norm Augustine and Maria T. Zuber.

In her Dear Colleagues e-mail, Pelosi promised the House will take up a bill before Obama is sworn in.

The economic stimulus bill faces a rockier path in the Senate, where Democrats have a narrower majority.

Although Pelosi did note in her email that House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) "has been working closely with the Senate," as well as the Obama team, on the economic stimulus plan.

Obama aides have said his team plans take their pitch for a stimulus package to voters at events around the country after he takes office.